Crisis averted – Gervonta Davis makes weight, eventually

AMERICA’S youngest world champion, Gervonta Davis, and undefeated No. 1 contender Liam Walsh both tipped the scale at the 130-pound limit during Friday’s official weigh-in at the 133-year-old Theatre Royal Stratford East for Saturday’s IBF junior-lightweight world championship fight.

On Saturday at the sold-out Copper Box Arena in London, the 22-year-old “Tank” Davis (17-0, 16 KOs) will attempt to become the first American to successfully defend his title on British soil in nearly a decade. The 30-year-old Walsh (21-0, 14 KOs) will aim to dethrone a man labeled by Davis’ promoter Floyd Mayweather as “the future of boxing” in the first defense of his IBF crown.

With fans chanting “Walsh is gonna get you” as Davis stepped on the scale, the Baltimore native narrowly missed the 130-pound limit by two ounces. Per IBF rules, Davis was given two hours to shed the extra ounces and successfully made weight approximately 90 minutes later.